Wow! Has it really been 2 years?!

It's been quite a long time since I've last posted. A whole 2 years! I guess I got too wrapped up in facebook to bother posting on here anymore. Well, now I'm on a facebook break and here I am again, lol. I am really enjoying my break. I am getting so much stuff done that I usually put off due to spending time on facebook. I am actually realizing that I am less bored without facebook than I was with it. If I find myself bored, I just think of a task I need to get done and get to it! I can't believe how much I have accomplished in just a week! Here's a list of all the things I've put off due to facebook and have now gotten done:

Planted flowers out front.

Planted a garden out back.

Did lots of yard work.

Cleaned out the Van and washed both vehicles.

Organized kitchen cabinet that I store junk in.

Cleaned out kitchen pantry.

Switched winter clothes out of the girls room for summer clothes.

Designed church bulletin board for VBS (still have to assemble it and put together though...but it's on my to-do list!)

Crocheted a teddy bear for my newest little nephew.

And I am sure there is much more that I am forgetting.

Sometimes I miss being on facebook, because I miss seeing what's up with everyone, but at the same time I am really enjoying being away. I will really have to practice self discipline and self control when I allow myself back on. It's one of the fruit of the spirits, so I better learn how to use it! I'm afraid that I've been so busy catching up on other stuff, that I haven't allowed myself more time to focus more time on God and that should be my first priority. So I am going to try better to focus more on Him this coming week. I am going to try to get more organized with my time so I can make check lists and stick to them. I even downloaded a check list app for my phone! I am on it now!! Here's my to-do list for this week:

• Vacuum out the Van
• Clean bedroom closest.
• Get rid of all old 2005-2009 bills, by burning them out in the fire pit (way too much to shred).
• Steam clean living room carpet.
• Mow the lawn.
• Organized dining room and living room closets.
• Mop kitchen and dining room floors.
• Make Dr. Appt. for Ben's ear (it's been plugged and I've had them irrigated and they still couldn't get it out and I really feel it's affecting his speech).
• Make Dentist Appt. for Ricky.
• Make Physical Appts. for Mark and I.

So that's all I have on my list so far. I am sure there will be more added as the week goes by. I would also love to get back to doing Bible studies with the kids and reading to them every night before bed. I was reading this series to them a few months back and just stopped, so I hope to finish it this time: http://www.dunlopministries.com/free-e-books/Book%201%20Jed%20Cartwright%20and%20the%20Midnight%20Escape2.pdf

The kids really enjoyed the book.

Next week Markie and Ricky go to Kids Camp, so I am trying to plan some fun things for the little ones since I know Ben will not be happy when he realizes they are going to Kids Camp and he isn't. I'd like to take the little ones Strawberry picking and seeing if a friend would like to meet there and let the kids play while we make stuff from the strawberries. And hopefully we'll get some real hot days so that I can take them to the beach. Heman's Family Camp is coming up so I would like to prepare for that ahead of time by making a lot of the meals at home. I found some interesting camping meals that look like fun to try out. I can't wait!

I hope everyone else is enjoying the beginnings of their summer and has a safe and Happy Father's day this coming weekend! Sorry if this posting seems to jump all over the place. I have lots of extra thinking time these days and my mind just runs from one thing to the next! Ha! Well, take care and God Bless!!

God spoke to me through bread

I know that sounds weird, lol. But He did, and here's how. Ever since Mother's day I have felt like I needed to improve certain area's in my motherly love department. I felt like I sometimes have a short fuse with the kids, I don't let them help me make dinner or snacks or anything. I am always telling them no, because I don't want to deal with the hassles or the mistakes they make. And I never want to take them to the store with me (by myself). Then at church on Mother's day the Pastor was reading from Proverbs 31 and it lists the virtures of a women. And I became really convicted. Most of those virtures does not describe me. I want my kids to remember their mother as "When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness." (Proverbs 31:26). I don't want them to always remember by yelling at them, not letting them help me, not going anywhere with me alone. I want to be the kind of mother God wants me to be and the last few weeks He has been showing me that I haven't been. Sure there are times when I am a good mother to my kids and they always have what they need. I do a lot for them, so I am not saying I am a horrible, no good, mother...I am just saying there are certain areas the Lord wants me to work on for the good of my children (and myself).

So anyway....I took Markie to the grocery store with me the other day and was letting her help me. I'd tell her what we needed and she would grab it from the shelf and put it in the cart for me. She was really enjoying our time together, I could tell. Then when we were checking out, we went to a self-checkout lane. So while I was scanning the food, Markie was at the other end bagging the food (we were a team, lol). Then I had to go up to the middle register to give the clerk a check since I had no cash on me. When I came back, Markie had put all the bags of groceries in the cart and I noticed she had the bread on the bottom of all the groceries. I pulled the bread out and it was flat as a pancake! I said "Oh no Markie! You put all the groceries on top of the bread and now it's flat" and Markie said "Oops! I'm sorry mama!" And I knew she was and as we were walking out to the car, I said to her "Thank you for helping me with the grocery shopping, even though you squished the bread" in a laughing tone and I said "This was fun!" and Markie laughed and agreed. Now normally I probably would of been upset that I just paid for 3 loaves of bread and Markie squished them, but like I said, God had been convicting me of how I react to things my kids do. So I focused on the positive thing that she was a great big help and I let her know it. So the next day I am doing my daily bible reading and I am reading in the book of John and Jesus is talking about how He is the bread and many will not eat of the bread He has to offer, but those who do eat of the bread He has to offer will live. And it seemed to me like He was going on and on and on about the bread. And it kept sticking out to me, but I didn't make the connection why. So after my bible study was done, I go into the kitchen to make me some breakfast (eggs and toast) and I go to see if any of the bread was salvageable and when I opened the cupboard, all the bread had risen back to normal! There was no sign of flatness at all! I couldn't believe it! I felt as though the Lord was telling me "Well done, good and faithful servant! Now here's your bread back!" LOL! So that is how the Lord spoke to me through bread. Doesn't seem so weird now, huh?!

Working out

I am trying to get a workout in. I've been doing it for the last 3 days. So far my legs are sore and my abs are sore. I want to work out tonight, but I think I am going to skip it today, since I am so sore all over. In the morning I plan to go for a jog, so that is part of the reason I don't want to work out tonight. I am afraid that if I do work out tonight, I'll be too sore to jog in the morning. I've been trying to lose weight for the last few weeks now. I started at 155 and got down to 151.2, then AF visited and I shot back up to 155! I've been watching what I've been eating, so now I am adding the workouts to the mix hoping that will help keep the weight down. I am tired of feeling fat. I measured my waist and at the beginning it was 37", then I got it down to 35" and AF caused it to go back up to 36". I really hope that everything goes back to normal when AF is done. But I doubt it. Last month I gained 2 lbs from her that didn't go away. I worked to get it back down and as soon as I did, BAM, she comes back with 3 lbs! It is just a battle I tell ya! The only way I've ever been able to lose weight was by having a kid and breast feeding. Well I can tell you I won't be doing either, lol. When you breastfeed, it takes 500 calories from you a day. It is recommended that you eat and extra 500 calories to make up for that, but I never did, which is how I would lose the weight. So I've adjusted my calorie intake. I make sure I get about 1300 calories a day (most days I go over, but not by much, like 100 calories) and then I've been working out consistently the last 3 days which should burn about 100 calories, so that takes care of the extra 100 I sneak it. So please pray for me to stick to my dieting plan, so I can be a healthy weight again. I would love to be around 130-135!

Forgiveness

I've been having a reoccuring dream for about the last month. Last night was about the 4th time I've had this dream. I thought it was God telling me that I still have unforgiveness in my heart that I need to learn to forgive. But then I thought, I've been trying to forgive, prayed about it, and have been avoiding speaking about the incident that is "causing" me to have these dreams. I think my progress on the forgiveness has been going pretty smoothly. So I am thinking that this might be an attack from Satan to keep the incident "fresh" in my mind so that I will continue to dwell on the situation, hendering the forgiving process. So I prayed today that I command Satan to stop in the name of Jesus Christ. So with that said, these dreams should stop. So I am going to do a word study on "Forgiveness", continue to pray, and I will post my results in the next few days.

Truth isn't discovered, Truth is revealed

That is what I learned from God today. I never really looked at it that way before. I knew that what I knew about God was because I have the Holy Spirit within me, but I guess I never really gave it much thought before. But today's bible study really revealed a lot to me today. I know that in order to understand the bible you have to have the Holy Spirit within you to do so. I use to read the bible without the help of the Holy Spirit before I was saved and I just didn't get it. I felt it was impossible to get it. Now I get it. It was revealed to me. It wasn't something I discovered, because it's always been there, it was something that was revealed to me. I think that is why a lot of people claim they have read the bible several times and find it to be full of hate and contradictory or they found it confusing because they tried to read it without the divine help of the Holy Spirit. John 14:26 says-- But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. (boldness mine)

And how do you recieve the Holy Spirit? Acts 2:38 says Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And Acts 5:32 says We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him.” So in order to receive the Holy Spirit you MUST repent of your sins (repent as in realize they are wrong, turn away from and do no more), turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and obey Him. That is how I received the Holy Spirit. And my life has been forever changed since then.

I hope this has been able to teach you something, I know I learned from it. I pray that everyone I know and love receives the Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord, I thank You today for Your word and the truth that has been revealed to me today through Your word and Your Holy Spirit. I can learn nothing without You! You are continually amazing and I grow in awe of You more and more everyday! Thank You Lord for Your wisdom!

Thinking of God

I haven't really posted much in the last few months about God. And I wanted to get more on here about Him. I am doing a bible study right now called "Experiencing God" and it is wonderful. I am learning so much from it! One thing I don't like about bible studies is sometimes they ask for scenerio's on where God has done something for you or where have you not listened to God and it not work out of you and stuff like that and my mind is always blank. I know I've had those situations and I just blank out when I have to think about them. So I am going to start to keep track. So here's my thinking of God today:

What I've learned about God today:

I've learned that I need to be patient to hear whatever it is God wants me to do. I learned that sometimes I don't like waiting for God's answer, so I come up with my own solution and convince myself that it's what God would want. I need to pray about things and take my time and wait for God's decision. He will always know the right answer. And it shows my dependence on Him.

What God has done for me today:

When I got home from work today I was trying to make dinner and the kids kept coming up to me for stuff to eat. I was getting very impatient with them because I was cooking dinner and told them they needed to wait. Well, we all know how that goes. They kept bugging me and I could feel myself become more and more upset with them. It was getting to the point where I was giving in to them and having a major attitude problem with them like they would just get out of my way and leave me alone. And then I thought to myself and know that God was speaking to me and I started to realize, you know what? I get a small amount of time with my kids everyday because of work and I get home and just want them to go away. How godly is that type of attitude. I need to have some patience, start planning snacks for the kids to munch on when we get home so I can cook dinner and be a kind and loving mother to them since I don't get to see them all day. I don't want my children to grow up remembering that Mom was always in a bad mood when she got home from work. I want to be a godly example for my children. I want my kids to see that I do enjoy them being around. God helped me to stay calm today in a lot of instances where I didn't want to be. He supressed my bad mood and kept reminding me that my kids will appreciate me more if I appreciate them more. I pray that God continues to work with me in this area. And help me to stay focus on the important nurturing part of taking care of my kids instead of shooing them off.

Thank you Lord for helping me be the parent I am suppose to be. I may not be a perfect one but I am definitely a better one when I trust in You to remind me how a godly parent is suppose to be to their children.

Remodeling

We finally remodeled our living room! I am so happy about it! I've waited almost 8 years to have a nice looking living room. We had to finally give in and remodel it when the Foster care agency came over to inspect the house and seen the unfinished living room. We had 2 walls that were drywalled, but not finished and 2 walls that were still the original walls. So we ripped out the 2 original walls. Markie and Ricky helped and they were actually a great help! They had a blast busting up all that drywall! And they helped pick up all the pieces of drywall while Mark and I were yanking it off the wall. So they pretty much did the work that Mark and I didn't want to do, lol. Ben and Charlotte were at my neighbor Debbie's house while we did all that. So after a month of sanding, mudding, painting, cleaning, glueing, sweating, it is finally done! I was going to go crazy if it didn't get done soon! Having 6 people cramped into the dining room as a make-shift living room was not fun at all! The kids would have it a mess in no time, everything was crammed in there, it was hard to clean, hard to put things away, it was just flat out miserable! So, now that it is done I can stop my complaining, lol. I am so happy with how my living room turned out. It's beautiful and relaxing and warm and welcoming! It's everything I ever wanted! The green was a lot greener than I had anticipated, but after getting the the wood ceiling up against it, it looks perfect. I don't have to be embarassed to have company over anymore! YAY! Here are pics of the results!! Sorry that these are not the best shots. My camera flash is broken, so the pictures turned out horrible, but it's the best I can do. Thanks for looking!